Wow – Windows 7 is a winner!!

Hoots · « **Reply #20 on:** 11 May 2009, 11:05 pm »

I too love J River Jukebox. I've tried many players and this one if my fav!

congrats on your new notebook....a lovely unit.

It's good to read positive feedback on the new O/S version.

boead · « **Reply #21 on:** 12 May 2009, 01:38 pm »

Virtual Windows XP
To start make sure your hardware (CPU) suports Virtual PC.
Check with these utilities:
AMD - http://support.amd.com/us/Embedded_TechDownloads/AMD-V_Hyper-V_Compatibility_Check_Utility.zip
Intel Processor Identification Utility - Intel http://www.intel.com/support/processors/tools/piu/

Then, configure your BIOS settings to enable hardware virtualization on your PC.

Second, download and install these apps.
Windows Virtual PC and Virtual Windows XP beta. Both from microsoft here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/

You can follow this guide:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idgSmallBusiness/idUS5409147120090512

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #22 on:** 13 May 2009, 12:42 am »

Quote from: GHM on 11 May 2009, 02:53 pm

It erased half or locked him out of his HD claiming the music was illegal.
Good thing he still owned the CD's so he could rip it all back to the HD!

I've seen that happen time and time again. Very frustrating.

Niteshade · « **Reply #23 on:** 13 May 2009, 12:49 am »

Has anybody found areas of Windows 7 that either Vista or XP do better? I've been trying to keep up with the reviews but some are conflicting...

Audiovista · « **Reply #24 on:** 13 May 2009, 12:54 am »

Quote from: Niteshade on 13 May 2009, 12:49 am

Has anybody found areas of Windows 7 that either Vista or XP do better? I've been trying to keep up with the reviews but some are conflicting...

I find the new name (7) much better than old (Vista) aa

boead · « **Reply #25 on:** 13 May 2009, 07:03 pm »

Differences.

I was SO impressed with Win7 on my laptop I decided to try it out on my workstation in my office. I wear lots of hats; Production Manager, Project coordinator, IT/Systems integration, Graphic Artist, A/V Editor and court jester. My work machine is critical and has evolved over time (hardware wise) and become limiting with WindowsXP which can’t support memory over 3GB, no more than 2 processors, poor 64-bit implementation and so on.

I threw a new 1TB hard drive in a NexStar3 eSATA external box, plugged it in and loaded Win7 on it. We have a Windows Domain with Active Directory sporting a couple of dozen workstations and a few Win2003 servers as well as a couple of NAS boxes and both software and hardware VPN’s. I expected it to be just for fun for now; last time I tried Vista it didn’t work out well.

Well holly shite!! Everything went smoothly, all drivers were in-the-box except for an M-Audio DIO2496 which ONLY had WinXP64 beta drivers available and they worked fine! I installed all my adobe apps (CS3’s) as well as other common and avant-garde programs I expected to be problematic.

Everything works beautifully!

Actually this computer has never been this fast ever, it absolutely runs circles around WinXP which I still have on another local drive. Network access is way faster, application launching is smoother and faster, visual quality is noticeably better/crisper more vibrant colors. New install syndromes? Maybe but I can now upgrade to 4 cores and all 4GB of RAM I threw in are being utilized. Premier Pro CS3 always acted flaky, weird display issues in some menus and such, all of which are gone now and its noticeably faster to open apps and respond to changes. AMAZING!!

I only have one problem related to the OS being on an eSata drive which from what I read, will be remedied by moving the drive internally and obviously the final release will have it worked out/fixed.

Navigation locally and across the network is such a huge improvement. I’m already very comfortable with it and working faster. It’s like getting a whole new computer performance wise.

I was NOT expecting this to be the case. I installed Virtual XP too, haven’t used it. I have only one app that won’t run under Vista/Win7. When I get the time, I’ll configure Virtual XP and see how that goes. Its funny, when finished Virtual XP is basically like a fresh, SP1 XP with ie6 and nothing much available. It took 125GB of space on my 1TB drive and I’ll have to update it, install its own AV and applications. Its really like having WinXP as a dual boot just n a windows shell on your desktop. Very cool if it works.

I’ll keep interested readers informed.

Enjoy!

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #26 on:** 13 May 2009, 07:19 pm »

Quote from: whubbard on 11 May 2009, 05:07 am

I personally loved Vista, so I'm really thrilled about 7.
The real problem Microsoft has here is that XP is stable, supported, easy to use, and frankly, perfect...ergo, nobody wants to switch.

-West

Ditto here...I was a LOT closer to switching to a Mac 4 years ago on my last laptop purchase then I was July 2008 on the most recent laptop purchase. Vista was close enough to Mac OS so that the 3x cost difference was too large.

Microsoft really took a large leap up from XP in my opinion with Vista. It's just a dang resource hog and needs 4gb to shine (you can make do with half that much with XP). Unfortunately for Microsoft, the world of laptops got smaller, cheaper and less powerful....making Vista a bad fit for small, inexpensive notebook crowd wanting it mostly as a communication device.

Great to know about Windows7...but I'll refrain from upgrading a beta version of any Microsoft OS until I know the bugs have been kinked out.

Thanks for keeping us apprised, boead

John

flintstone · « **Reply #27 on:** 13 May 2009, 08:24 pm »

Quote from: TheChairGuy on 13 May 2009, 07:19 pm

Quote from: whubbard on 11 May 2009, 05:07 am
I personally loved Vista, so I'm really thrilled about 7.
The real problem Microsoft has here is that XP is stable, supported, easy to use, and frankly, perfect...ergo, nobody wants to switch.

-West

Ditto here...I was a LOT closer to switching to a Mac 4 years ago on my last laptop purchase then I was July 2008 on the most recent laptop purchase. Vista was close enough to Mac OS so that the 3x cost difference was too large.

Microsoft really took a large leap up from XP in my opinion with Vista. It's just a dang resource hog and needs 4gb to shine (you can make do with half that much with XP). Unfortunately for Microsoft, the world of laptops got smaller, cheaper and less powerful....making Vista a bad fit for small, inexpensive notebook crowd wanting it mostly as a communication device.

Great to know about Windows7...but I'll refrain from upgrading a beta version of any Microsoft OS until I know the bugs have been kinked out.

Thanks for keeping us apprised, boead

John

The beta wasn't buggy, and the RC release is equally good on my computer....nothing wrong with waiting though

In truth, the beta and RC releases are more stable than my old XP pro was....and XP was pretty stable.

One thing I love about Windows 7 is boot time....it even boots faster than my Linux system! (something no other windows version could do)

turkey · « **Reply #28 on:** 13 May 2009, 08:43 pm »

Quote from: TheChairGuy on 13 May 2009, 07:19 pm

Ditto here...I was a LOT closer to switching to a Mac 4 years ago on my last laptop purchase then I was July 2008 on the most recent laptop purchase. Vista was close enough to Mac OS so that the 3x cost difference was too large.

Macs are a premium product, but they're not necessarily more expensive.

Yes, you can get a Windows laptop or desktop dirt cheap. But do you really want to?

I'd rather spend a bit more and get a product I'm really going to enjoy using over the next 5 to 10 years.

I also figure that a Mac will save me hundreds of dollars since I won't need anti-virus software or anti-spyware software, and the Mac comes free with a fair bit of useful software from Apple that I won't have to buy either.

Apple actually has good support. That's worth something. They support the entire product too, so you won't get the finger-pointing that goes on between the PC makers and Microsoft whenever there's a problem with a Windows PC.

GHM · « **Reply #29 on:** 13 May 2009, 09:58 pm »

Quote from: turkey on 13 May 2009, 08:43 pm

Quote from: TheChairGuy on 13 May 2009, 07:19 pm
Ditto here...I was a LOT closer to switching to a Mac 4 years ago on my last laptop purchase then I was July 2008 on the most recent laptop purchase. Vista was close enough to Mac OS so that the 3x cost difference was too large.

Macs are a premium product, but they're not necessarily more expensive.

Yes, you can get a Windows laptop or desktop dirt cheap. But do you really want to?

I'd rather spend a bit more and get a product I'm really going to enjoy using over the next 5 to 10 years.

I also figure that a Mac will save me hundreds of dollars since I won't need anti-virus software or anti-spyware software, and the Mac comes free with a fair bit of useful software from Apple that I won't have to buy either.

Apple actually has good support. That's worth something. They support the entire product too, so you won't get the finger-pointing that goes on between the PC makers and Microsoft whenever there's a problem with a Windows PC.

Premium product..not more expensive?.. To who?

With so much open source freeware available for Windows based units. There's absolutely no contest in which is more flexible.

I'm sure there are many Mac users that dual boot in order to take advantage of the huge amount of Windows programs available that aren't compatible with Mac.
Windows base is the king in these areas.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #30 on:** 14 May 2009, 02:26 am »

Quote from: turkey on 13 May 2009, 08:43 pm

Macs are a premium product, but they're not necessarily more expensive.

Yes, you can get a Windows laptop or desktop dirt cheap. But do you really want to?

I'd rather spend a bit more and get a product I'm really going to enjoy using over the next 5 to 10 years.

I also figure that a Mac will save me hundreds of dollars since I won't need anti-virus software or anti-spyware software, and the Mac comes free with a fair bit of useful software from Apple that I won't have to buy either.

Apple actually has good support. That's worth something. They support the entire product too, so you won't get the finger-pointing that goes on between the PC makers and Microsoft whenever there's a problem with a Windows PC.

turkey,

I am not here denigrating Mac - it is THE premium product. But, in my honest opinion, the differential in cost makes little sense versus Windows machines for the vast majority of computer users worldwide. It is most often 2-3x as much to buy a Mac (with Vista) for comparable performance (except for extreme video and or graphic arts users)

As well, if you are starting from scratch, the additional monies one must spend on new software.

Consumers Reports just ran a piece on Virus protection. The combination (FREE) suite of Anti-Vir, Windows Defender (bundled free with Vista OS) and an integrated spyware program (who's name I forgot offhand and too lazy to go upstairs to fetch the article) was top-rated. They were all freeware. So, it now costs literally zero for Phishing/Spyware/Virus protection for Windows users.

My spyware issues were largely eliminated when I switched from Internet Explorer to Mozilla Firefox 4+ years ago now. I now use an integrated (FREE) suite of Anti-Vir, Spyware Blaster, SpyBot Search & Destroy and Windows Defender with my newest Vista laptop and have had ZERO issues. I mean over, kaput, zilch, zippo, nada, nothing as far as issues go.

As for support - Consumer Reports just judged that, too. Apple was so far ahead of the Windows pack (Lenovo, Dell, HP, Gateway) it was unreal. So, they are at least giving superior support for the huge differential. But consider that if PC's have less problems ongoing due to better protection and less glitchy operating systems...the need for superb support will be mitigated.

Mac is a premium product....but at the prices it charges, it's slightly better performance is lost but with a very select few that need it's virtues. I think Microsoft is going to grab some lost market share back with what I now hear of Windows7 (given the great experience with Vista)

John

Brown · « **Reply #31 on:** 22 May 2009, 04:08 pm »

We have compared both Mac and Windows laptops using the internal media centers. The Mac was in our opinion the better sounding machine.
However the best sound was achieved eliminating Windows media center. Using EAC for ripping and J. River for playback and ASIO4allv2 as the drive. Set up according to Wavelength Audio instructions. So far for us its the ticket.
For us it was the set up of the computer not the computer itself. Any thoughts ? Anyone else have this experience ?

earplay · « **Reply #32 on:** 25 May 2009, 04:28 pm »

Brown and everyone,

I would be reluctant to make any categorical statement about how any category of pc sounds in an audio system. Take a look at the thread in this forum, "Different PC + Identical system = Different sound!?!"

I use Windows and Mac's. The discussion in the other thread centered on a comparison between two Window's machines. Apparently, there are a number of variables within pc's that affect the sound, but are yet unidentified.

As for iTunes walking all over the MS OS, I've never seen it happen, but that doesn't mean it doesn't and it's frustrating when it does. It leaves an enduring impression. My typical experience is of MS apps walking all over the MS system. If an Apple app does the same thing, I'd have the same reaction... I want to get hands on someone! In any case, get a good uninstaller, like Revo, and you should be able to remove the footprints from the registry.

In my experience, MS and Apple each have things to recommend them, but I would be reluctant to say that there is a categorical auditory difference. I'm sure that different machines within each OS and manufacturer sound differently.

GHM · « **Reply #33 on:** 26 May 2009, 01:49 am »

Just loaded the Windows 7 RC 64 bit version on my main PC this morning. It loaded up without a hitch. MS is making it so much easier to install a new OS these days!

Reboot times are blazing fast!

boead · « **Reply #34 on:** 27 May 2009, 09:27 pm »

I now have three of my machines running Win7; two at home and my main rig at work.

My work machine is running very fast an super smooth. Absolutely running circles around WinXP that was previously installed. I've edited several shows (Adobe Premier Pro CS3), worked on websites (Dreamweaver CS3) and been using all sorts of odd applications to convert audio and video as well as file sharing across my network, using remote access and so on.

Amazing!

Doublej · « **Reply #35 on:** 24 Jun 2009, 12:58 am »

Does anyone have comments on the audio aspects of Windows 7? Is it worse, the same, or better than Vista?

mgalusha · « **Reply #36 on:** 24 Jun 2009, 01:27 am »

I've played with the Win 7 RC and the only real problem I had was getting the Cisco VPN client to work. Fortunately a little searching turned up an article on exactly how to make it work and all was well after following the directions.

The one thing I don't care for in the RC is that MS has made it very clear that you can't upgrade from the RC to the release, it will require a clean install, so IMO one shouldn't get too carried away with customizing the RC and be damn sure you have all your data backed up..

GHM · « **Reply #37 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 03:46 pm »

Looks like MS is offering a pre ordering discount for Windows 7! You can get it for $50 until supplies run out or before July 11, 2009.

TV Man · « **Reply #38 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 06:44 pm »

I've been playing with Windows 7 RC for the past few weeks and have to say it's an outstanding OS. My old single core Athlon 2 GHz computer flys with W7. After testing Windows Vista on the same system it's fair to say there's no comparison. Vista was bloated... W7 RC smokes it (and XP Pro) in every way. It is odd after living with the compromises of XP to move in to a future where Microsoft actually got it right for a change. Windows 7 is awesome!

doctorcilantro · « **Reply #39 on:** 6 Jul 2009, 04:09 pm »

Quote from: Brown on 22 May 2009, 04:08 pm

We have compared both Mac and Windows laptops using the internal media centers. The Mac was in our opinion the better sounding machine.
However the best sound was achieved eliminating Windows media center. Using EAC for ripping and J. River for playback and ASIO4allv2 as the drive. Set up according to Wavelength Audio instructions. So far for us its the ticket.
For us it was the set up of the computer not the computer itself. Any thoughts ? Anyone else have this experience ?

Very true. J. River uses their own 32bit audio engine and the entire application is just mind boggling with all it offers.

I typically use the EMU drivers but I need to test out the ASIO4allv2 as I am having an issue that may actually be related to my external DAC.

(2) new Windows 7 RC1 builds here, x86 and x64. x64 is my hi-fi source with J. River MC13-14 as front end.

DC